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Lightsabers
Designed as much for elegance in combat as for ceremony, the lightsaber, also referred to as the "laser sword", was a distinctive weapon, the very image of which was inextricably bound with the mythos of the Jedi Order and their polar opposites, the Sith. The lightsaber also became synonymous with the Jedi Order's values to uphold peace and justice throughout the galaxy. This perception endured, despite the many conflicts with lightsaber-wielding Sith and Dark Jedi. The weapon consisted of a blade of pure plasma energy emitted from the hilt and suspended in a force containment field. The field contained the immense heat of the plasma, protecting the wielder, and allowed the blade to keep its shape. The hilt was almost always self-fabricated by the wielder to match his or her specific needs, preferences and style. Due to the weightlessness of plasma and the strong gyroscopic effect generated by it, lightsabers required a great deal of strength and dexterity to wield, and was extremely difficult—and dangerous—for the untrained to attempt using. However, in the hands of an expert of the Force, the lightsaber was a weapon to be greatly respected and feared. To wield a lightsaber was to demonstrate incredible skill and confidence, as well as masterful dexterity and attunement to the Force. History Origins With the formation of the Jedi Order after the Force Wars, ceremonial weapons became an integral part of their order. For millennia afterwards, the Jedi used bladed weapons like swords, as lightsabers had not been invented yet. The first lightsabers came into being when Jedi combined advanced offworld technology with a forging ritual, learning how to "freeze" a laser beam. By the time of the Duinuogwuin Contention around 15,500 BBY, their studies and researches with this "frozen blaster" technology yielded success; they developed a method to generate a focused beam of energy that arced circumferentially back to its source, creating a controlled energy circuit and leading to the first portable high-energy blades. However, these preliminary lightsabers were highly unstable and inefficiently guzzled power from a belt-mounted power supply; they could only be used for a brief duration before overheating. As a consequence of these flaws, the first lightsabers were little more than ceremonial objects, seldom worn, and much less utilized. Early Refinements The extreme lack of stability that plagued the weapons early designs were gradually corrected through the ages, and the cumbersome and rarely used siege-weapons gave way to elegant and much more commonly used lightsabers. However, while these archaic lightsabers were far more stable than their ungainly predecessors, they still suffered from energy consumption issues, still requiring the belt-worn power pack of previous generations. The power-cable tended to restrict the wielders movements in battle and prevented the usage of force-powered and long range telekinetic saber combat. However, despite the shortcomings, the highly stable blades granted them a superior advantage in hand-to-hand combat against heavily-armored foes, and saw a great deal of use during the period of the Hundred-Year Darkness. Sith Usage It seems the Dark Lords of the Sith Empire were ultimately responsible for the advancement of lightsabers, replacing the belt-mounted power pack with a power cell within the hilt. An internal superconductor was introduced, which transferred the returning looped energy from the negative-charged flux aperture back into an internal power cell. With this modification, the power cell would only expend power when the energy loop was broken, such as when the lightsaber cut something, solving the power supply problem. According to the Tedryn Holocron, the Sith also created the schematics for the first Double-bladed lightsabers. Wielders of these original modern lightsabers include Karness Muur, a Dark Jedi who had wielded an archaic lightsaber, but later switched to a curve-hilted modern lightsaber. The Sith crew of the Omen were also equipped with modern lightsabers. Muur also appears to have been one of the Sith Lords to establish the tradition of wielding lightsabers with synthetic lightsaber crystals, which was maintained until its resurgence in 3,653 BBY. However, this tradition was disregarded by Exar Kun during his reign, as he and his followers opted instead to continue using their Jedi lightsabers in combat, though at least one follower used a lightsaber with a red crystal. However, this tradition was reestablished by the Sith acolyte Haazen and the Dark Lords Revan and Malak. Despite the advancements in lightsaber technology apparently pioneered by the Sith, most Dark Lords of the era spurned the use of lightsabers in favor of Sith swords. Adoption by the Jedi With Naga Sadow's invasion of the Republic in 5,000 BBY and the subsequent start of the Great Hyperspace War, the technological innovations pioneered by the Sith Empire were brought to the Republic and the Jedi. However, the majority of Sith forces held to the use of Sith swords, while the Jedi continued to use the protosabers, as they had not yet had time to adapt and implement these new designs. With the Sith defeat at the end of the war, modern lightsabers were adopted by the Jedi order. By 4,800 BBY, they were almost universally utilized by Jedi, though some, like Odan-Urr, held stubbornly to the use of protosabers. When the Great Sith War, Jedi converts who flocked to Exar Kun's banner continued using their Jedi lightsabers, disregarding the tradition lain down by Sith Lords of the original Sith Empire. However, other innovations entered their ranks, with Kun himself modifying his lightsaber into a double-bladed lightsaber, using schematics from a Sith holocron.While Exar Kun's insurrection ultimately failed, he did introduce the double-bladed lightsaber to the Jedi, and it began to see relatively widespread use during the period leading up to the Jedi Civil War. This period also saw the momentary rise of the Sith acolyte Haazen. Haazen was a failed Jedi apprentice who fought in the Great Sith War, ultimately defecting to the Sith. While his defection resulted in the deaths of hundreds of soldiers, he managed to keep it secret, and the Jedi order merely thought him incompetent and denied him knightship. When he finally rose to prominence after orchestrating the creation of the Jedi Covenant and the subsequent Padawan Massacre of Taris, he took control of the Covenant and started a conflict with the Jedi. Brandishing a red lightsaber and reestablishing the synth-crystal tradition, Haazen caused the deaths of numerous Jedi,before dying in the destruction of the Draay Estate. Jedi Civil War The Jedi Civil War was a conflict started by former Jedi Revan and Malak in the aftermath of the Mandalorian Wars. During their conflict against the Mandalorians, Revan found evidence regarding the survival of the Old Sith Empire. In order to prepare the Republic for conflict with the Sith, Revan decided to attack the Republic himself in order to unify it. Creating a new Sith Empire of his own, he waged war for several years, attracting numerous rogue and Dark Jedi to his cause. When he resurrected the Sith under his own banner, Revan observed the tradition of using red-hued blades laid out by the original Sith. Taking up such a weapon himself, many of his followers followed suit, and red lightsabers became officially recognized as the mark of a Darksider. Double-bladed lightsabers also saw common usage among the Dark Jedi and Sith Lords of his Empire. The usage of red lightsabers continued among the surviving Darksiders after the fall of Revan's Empire, with many Dark Lords wielding such weapons during the First Jedi Purge. Since the time of Revan, red-bladed lightsabers continue to be the staple of Darksiders. This era saw a surge in the usage of personal energy shields by many armed forces, rendering blasters at least partially obsolete. As blaster usage experienced partial decline due to the shields, melee weapons such as swords became common once more, a standard weapon among many armies. In order to make the weapons more durable, almost all swords and weapons of the era were created using cortosis ore woven into the blade, allowing them to stand up against lightsabers. Great Galactic War In 3,681 BBY, that which Revan feared took place, and the Old Sith Empire invaded. Eventually the conflict culminated in the Sacking of Coruscant, where for the first time since the Great Sith War, Sith warriors set foot in the Jedi temple. After the sacking of Coruscant came the Treaty of Coruscant, an unprecedented peace accord between the Republic and the Sith. The Sith controlled one half of the galaxy with Coruscant as their capital, while the Republic held on to the remaining half of its territory with Aldaraan as their capital. With the Sith in control of Coruscant, the Jedi Order retreated to its birthplace on Tython. In terms of lightsaber usage, the Sith Empire finally made them much more common place than before, with Sith swords being almost completely abandonned. As lightsaber usage among them became more common, the sight of red Sith blades also became more common, as they held to the traditional bloodshine color. Another typical design feature on Sith weapons was the usage of dual-blade guards, with several notables during the Sacking of Coruscant wielding such weapons. Aftermath and Sith rebirth Eventually, the Republic managed to reclaim its lost territory, though whether they did so by driving back the Sith or simply took advantage of purposeful withdraw on the Sith's part remains unknown. Either way, until the rise of such notables as Darth Desolus and Darth Ruin, the Sith were thought extinct. During this period, lightsaber usage and technology remained largely unchanged, although it should be noted that the usage of naturally formed crystals from Ilum became almost universal among Jedi, causing the variety of lightsaber colors to drop, as the vast majority of crystals that formed on Ilum took on either a blue of green hue.. Even when the Sith were reborn, major innovations in lightsaber technology remained absent. It is notable that during the reign of Lord Kaan, Sith apprentices were provided with stock lightsabers rather than having to create their own.After the institution of the Rule of Two during the reign of Darth Bane, this policy was reversed, and apprentices had to create their own lightsabers, though synthetic crystals for the weapons were often provided by the masters. However, a notable exception to this rule was Darth Maul, who self-fabricated the four synth-crystals required for his saberstaff after several days of nonstop work with no sleep. Maul considered the creation of the crystals he used as a mark of Sith superiority over Jedi, who relied on naturally formed crystals that they found at various revered sites, as they had for millennia. Jedi Purge and Reformation With the occurrence of the Great Jedi Purge and the founding of the Galactic Empire, lightsabers became rare antiques. The few lightsabers that could be found were either hidden away or circulated on the black market, as Emperor Palpatine made their possession and use illegal among all but his own servants, such as Darth Vader, the Emperor's Hands or the Emperor's Shadow Guard. In order to make it more difficult for surviving Jedi to create lightsabers, he also had most of the sites where Jedi procured crystals, such as Ilum, razed or quarantined, and he placed strict controls and sanctions on any crystals or gems available on the open market that could be used in a lightsaber, such as Corusca gems.These acts and precautions forced many later Jedi to start relying on self-fabricated synth-crystals for their lightsabers, though few actually used red-hued ones, as that was the mark of a Sith-made crystal. This practice became very common during Luke Skywalkers tenure as Jedi Grand Master. Dark Side Resurgent After his death and resurrection, Palpatine let slip the usage of traditional Dark Side blades, wielding a blue blade in combat himself and only forcing Luke to wield one during the latter stages of his brief apprenticeship under Sidious. However, most of his Force-using servants were only Dark Jedi, not true Sith, and so were not bound by tradition. After Palpatine's final death, there remained several Dark Side cults and groups either formed by surviving Dark Jedi. A notable group were the Reborn. Due to the large number of Dark Jedi within the Reborn, supplied by a special cloning method that granted Force-sensitivity, Desann was forced to manufacture lightsabers for the group. This resulted in a notable innovation in lightsaber construction techniques, as beforehand lightsaber manufacturing was impossible due to the non-uniform nature of the crystals, which required painstaking, individual fine-tuning. These manufacturing processes also appeared to have been applied by the Disciples of Ragnos, a Sith cult formed by Desann's apprentice, Tavion Axmis, and surviving members of the Reborn. Also, as all the lightsabers were identical assembly line creations, they all utilized red crystals. While the development of lightsaber-manufacturing techniques was a significant advancement in lightsaber technology, the Jedi, as well as most other Force-using traditions, kept to the old methods where lightsabers were self-fabricated by students in order to individualize the weapons, and test the abilities of the adept in question. Many years later, as the Imperial Remnant recovered in strength, they also formed a new Force Order; the Imperial Knights. The Knights were noted for their self-fabricated weapons, although they all followed the same design and used silver crystals in their weapons. This helped individualize their weapons but still mark them out as Imperial Knights. Emperor Roan Fel eventually formed an alliance with the Sith, led by Darth Krayt. While the Empire and the Sith worked together, the Sith turned on the Empire and usurped the throne, causing a civil war within the Empire. The lightsaber construction methods of the Sith differed from the Jedi and Imperial Knights in that many of their lightsabers were apparently constructed from a material similar to the Yorik coral used by the Yuuzhan Vong. They also utilized synthetic crystals, in observance of tradition. Mechanics The typical lightsaber hilt consisted of a metal cylinder between twenty and thirty-five centimeters in length. However, the size of individuals hilts varied drastically, as the weapon was tailored to the creator's specific needs and preferences. The lightsaber mechanisms were contained within the hilt. High levels of energy generated by a high-output Diatium power cell was unleashed through a series of focusing lenses and energizers that converted the energy into plasma. The plasma was projected through a set of focusing crystals that lent the blade its properties and allowed for the adjustment of blade length and power output. The ideal number of crystals was three, though only one was required. Once focused by the crystals, the plasma was sent through a series of field energizers and modulation circuitry within the emitter matrix that further focused it, making it into a coherent beam of energy that was projected from the emitter. The blade typically extended about a meter before being arced by the blade containment field back to a negatively charged fissure ringing the emitter, where it was channeled back to the power cell by a superconductor, completing the circuit. Below is a list of the primary part almost all lightsabers needed to use to function properly: *Lightsaber hilt *el cap *Diatium power cell *Inert power insulator *Focusing lens *Lightsaber crystal *Emitter matrix *Blade emitter